The Point Arena Pintos, their Environment and Beyond

The Point Arena Pintos

Their Environment and Beyond

“Point Arena Pintos: their Environment and Beyond” by Jacqueline McAbery opens November 4 from 2-4 p.m. at the Dolphin Gallery.  Local artist Jacqueline McAbery presents a new series of paintings of abandoned Pintos she adopted in 2007. 

The pintos have been part of the local Point Arena scene for many generations, the present herd consists of eight horses, three who are wild and five who have been domesticated, all live on McAbery’s land. The herd come from solid stock, their line goes back to the quarter horse, and two of the horses have one blue eye and one brown eye, which is a distinctive genetic trait among pintos.

As a photographer McAbery captured the life of the pintos and sold photo cards and calendars of them locally. Her photography led her eventually into becoming a painter.  Her expressionistic abstract and landscape paintings are inspired by the essence and spirit of the natural world filled with the light and color of the Northern California Coast. These delightful horses have become an inspiration for her recent paintings.

The paintings include the wild stallion Thunder who is over 35 years old and his offspring. In this collection McAbery combines realism and abstraction in her work using oil and mixed media. As an occasional plein air painter, she enjoys painting the horses in their environment in a somewhat realistic style; however, her abstract voice mostly presents the land and horses in a more playful manner.